Witness to Destruction
Chapter Seven
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"Release my soul, release my eyes
A clock unwinds, a flower dies
Dishonesty disqualifies
You win the race but lose the prize
A tattered cloak behind the throne
It is unseen, it is not known
Behind this face I am alone
I would give everything I own
To touch you."
-Emerson, Lake & Palmer
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The reached the village as the sun sank completely. "Conner, why don't you 
stay here, and I'll come back for you. We've no idea how these people might 
respond to a talking mouse." He agreed, and she walked into the village. 
There were few people about, and the all looked at her strangely. She 
realized she must look affright, her clothes in tatters and smeared with 
dirt. "Could someone direct me to a place where I could get a room for the 
night? I've been traveling all day."

A man in rough home spun clothing, and rake slung over his shoulder 
approached her. "'ere, miss. Come wit' me. We can put ya up for th' night."

"Thank you ever so much. I've been fighting my way through those woods all 
day. There were these horrible spiders and squirrels...." All of the day's 
stresses came pouring out of her.

"Calm down. Yer outta there now. No need t' worry. You come home wit' me, 
we'll feed you, get ya cleaned up, then you can tell us all about it." He 
led her to a small cottage that glowed with warm firelight. "Molly, we've 
got us a visitor."

"Oh, you poor dear." Said a pleasant looking woman, not much older than 
herself. She had blond hair and a tired face. "Come with me, we'll get you 
cleaned up." Molly boiled water over the fire, then poured it in the tub 
along with some cooler water from the well. Amalthya changed out of her 
ruined dress, and climbed into the warm water gratefully.

"What ever were you doing in the middle of the wilderness? The nearest 
town is at least a days journey from here. And you came alone no less!"

"I didn't really have a choice. I have to get to the outside of the 
Labyrinth and get home. Unfortunately, I have no idea which way to go, or 
what to do once I get there."

"I'm afraid I don't understand. Why would you want to get away from here? 
There is nothing outside of the woods for us. If someone in your village 
is troubling you....."

"You don't understand. I'm not from here. I'm from, well Earth. This isn't 
my home!" Amalthya said despairingly. She was starting to believe she would 
never make it home. What had seemed like a straight forward, simple task 
at the beginning of her journey, was now seeming more and more impossible. 
"I don't really expect you to understand."

"Well, I may not be able to understand, but I recognize a soul in turmoil 
when I see one. I'll listen to whatever you have to say, when you feel like 
talking." Molly left the room to get clothes for her guest, her comments 
weighing on her mind. "Do you know what she said, Joseph? She said she was 
from *Earth*."

"Don't be silly. No one of us has left the Underground in all these years. 
And She's most defiantly one o' us. You saw her eyes. She's not from Earth. 
Either she's makin'' it up, or perhaps she was injured in the forest, and 
got confused."

"Of course your right. We have an obligation to her then, don't we? I mean 
if she's hurt, we've got to help her."

"Yes. We'll take care of the poor dear. See if you c'n get her to talk t' 
you. I'll get someone to go to the next village and see if anyone fittin' 
her description's gone missin'."

"I'll go take these to her." She exited the room, and Joseph left the 
cottage to send the message. "Here you go. This might be a little big, but 
it should do." She laid out the green dress.

"Thank you, Molly. I'm afraid I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Amalthya."

"That's a very pretty name. I'll let you get changed. Dinner'll be just a 
few minutes."

"Thank you again." Molly left the room, and Amalthya got out of the tub, 
toweled off, and put the dress on. It was a little big on her, but not a 
terribly bad fit, considering. She left the back room, and came out into 
the kitchen. "Where did your husband go? I wanted to thank him as well."

"Joe'll be back soon enough. You sit here and tell me all 'bout what 
happened to you." Amalthya related her tale once again, relaxing somewhat 
as the burden was lifted from her shoulders. She didn't notice Molly's 
brow furrowing in concern.

"Really. The Goblin King? Can't say I know of anyone who's ever seen 'im. 
We always thought of 'im more as a myth than anything else. And what's 
this Labyrinth?"

"The Labyrinth? Why, we're in it right now. This woods is part of it. 
Haven't you ever gone outside of this forest?"

"No one does. It's not safe outside our forest." This last statement 
troubled Amalthya more than anything else had the whole evening. These 
people had no idea of the world outside their few villages. Was this 
Jareth's doing? Did he keep these people confined in this little corner of 
the Underground? There was one other thing she had noticed early on that 
didn't sit right with her. Molly's eyes, and her husbands as well, glowed 
with the same strange fire as her own. The same as, she was willing to bet, 
the rest of the village. Something wasn't right here, but she couldn't 
quite place her finger on it. 
	Joseph returned a short time later, and the three of them ate 
dinner in silence. Amalthya carefully slipped some bread from her meal 
into the pocket of her dress. After dinner, she excused herself, saying 
she wanted to take a short walk around the village before she went to bed. 
She crept out to the edge of the forest and called softly.

"Conner? You out here?"

"Took ya long enough. I was beginnin' to think you'd forgotten 'bout me."

"No, look. I even brought you some supper." She gave him the bread, which 
he began to eat immediately.

"So..." He said between mouthfuls. "What do ya think?"

"These people are a little strange. They never go outside the forest, and 
they think Jareth is just a myth. They didn't even know what the Labyrinth 
was!"

"That is a little weird."

"Your telling me. They talk to me like I was two, or stupid or something. 
It's all just...."

"Amalthya!" Joseph's voice called from a few yards away. 

"I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm here!"

"Were you talking to someone?"

"Me? No, why?"

"I just thought I heard someone...nevermind. We thought maybe you got lost."

"No, I'm fine. Just tired." She stifled a yawn.

"Come on back with me then. We'll get you settled."  They put her in the 
back room, and piled the bed with furs to make it warm and comfortable. It 
reminded her of the weeks she had spent recuperating in Jareth's castle. It 
was a strangely comforting thought. "If only things could have stayed like 
that. Then I wouldn't have had to leave." She drifted off to sleep, 
unmindful of the murmuring voices in the next room.

"It's worse than I thought. She told me she was kidnapped by the Goblin 
King, and that these woods were inside of...what was the word...a labyrinth.
Something terrible must have happened to her, Joseph. She seemed so earnest,
but none of it's real. It can't be!"

"I agree. We'll have to take her to someone who can care for her. When I 
found her this evening, she was stareing into the woods, talkin' to herself."


"Goodness! What if she wanders off? She could get hurt out there."

"We'll have to watch her. Tomorrow, we'll talk with the Elder. I bet he'd 
know what to do with her."

----

The owl swooped over the small town unobserved. She was somewhere near by. 
He had felt another twinge at sunset, but it had vanished so quickly, he 
hadn't been able to pinpoint it. Giving up finally, he wheeled away in the 
direction of his castle.

----

She slept fitfully. Dreams tormented her, but she couldn't really remember 
what they were about. Once or twice, she had awakened and thought there was 
someone in the room, but decided it was just her imagination working 
overtime. By the time the sun rose to peek in the window, she was more 
exhausted than she had been the night before. She rose, dressed, then 
platted her long hair back out of her face. After the little morning 
routine, she felt better. She went into the kitchen with a smile on her 
face, but inside, her heart was heavy at the thought of continuing her way 
through the Labyrinth.

"Good Morning, Amalthya." Molly's cheery voice greeted her. "Sleep well?"

"Fine." She lied.

"Have some breakfast."

"Thank you, for everything. But I really have to get going again. I want to 
go home."

"No. You can't! I mean, not without breakfast. Eat up, and then we'll see 
what we can do about getting you on your way."

"Okay....if you insist." She ate the food that was put before her. Joseph 
came in with an armload of firewood. 

"It's all set, Molly."

"What is?"

"Oh, nothing you need to worry 'bout. I was thinkin' we could go down to 
th' market, get the supplies you need."

"Okay. I don't really have any money, though."

"Don't worry none. We'll make sure you're taken care of."

After Molly and Joseph had finished eating, they all went to the market 
square. They looked at some of the stalls, then the couple led Amalthya 
into a small stone building, where a group of older men were waiting for 
them.

"Is that the girl?" One asked.

"Yes, Sir. She came in last night, like I said. We think maybe she hit her 
head or something, and got lost in th' woods."

Amalthya looked around fearfully. "What's going on here?"

"Calm down, young lady. We want to help you. You're obviously confused. I 
think your right, Joseph. See the scrape on her forehead?" 

"I got that running away from the spider. I didn't hit my head!" She tried 
to bolt for the door, but was held fast.

"See here. We're only trying to help. The stories you told...I know you 
can't understand this, but they couldn't be true."

"I'm not crazy, I'm not! Let me go, please!" She broke into sobs.

"Joseph, Molly, you did the right thing. Who knows what might have happened 
to her if she had gone into the forest again. You probably saved her life."
The crowed began to disband, and two men led Amalthya from the building. She 
didn't have the will to fight them.

"Joseph, do you really think we did the right thing?"

"Of course, Molly. You heard the Elder. They'll take her to someone who can 
help her get better."

"Oh, I hope so. She was such a nice girl."

End Chapter Seven